Dragana M.

Gak
gak.dragana@gmail.com
(Fakultet tehničkih nauka – Engleski jezik, Novi Sad)

TEXTBOOK – AN IMPORTANT
ELEMENT IN THE
TEACHING PROCESS

Summary
The textbook plays an important role in teaching and learning. It
represents a useful resource for both teachers as a course design-
ers and learners as persons who are acquiring the English language.
However, the use of a ready-made textbook has its advantages and
disadvantages. This paper aims at investigating the benefits and
hindrances in using a ready-made textbook as well as ways of text-
book adaptation. Textbook adaptation is a process of overcoming
problems in using only ready-made textbooks. Textbook adapta-
tions at activity level, unit level and syllabus level are an integral
part of the course-developing process which assists the teacher in
meeting the learners’ specific work-related needs.

Key Words: textbooks, students’ needs, textbook adaptation.

 Introduction
T he textbook is a book used as a standard source of
information for formal study of a subject and an in-
strument for teaching and learning (Graves 2000: 175). It
should be regarded as one of the many sources teachers
can draw upon in creating an effective lesson and may
offer a framework of guidance and orientation. Addi-
tionally, the textbook provides confidence and security
for an inexperienced teacher who finds adapting exist-
ing textbooks challenging especially for tailored work-
related courses.
It is necessary to emphasize that no ready-made text-
book will ever fit perfectly every language program. There
is no ideal textbook, ideal for every teacher, ideal for every
group of learners and ideal in every teaching situation.
Moreover, teachers’ reactions to using ready-made text-
books are manifold. Many teachers are required to use
textbooks and are bound to the textbook in its existing
form. Since this simplifies class preparation for teachers,
this is acceptable for some teachers who eventually begin
to over-rely on textbooks and decide to follow the text-
book closely, making no or only small essential changes
and additions. On the other hand, some teachers reject
the textbook approach to learning and wish to make sub-
stantial changes to the textbook they need to use.
Adapting a textbook to fit actual needs of a group
of learners is a demanding and time-consuming proc-
ess. Apart from lack of time and resources that major-
ity of teachers state to be the main obstacles in adapting
textbooks, teachers also need training and experience in
modifying textbooks.
It is not only the teachers who have a significant
impact on the use and modification of textbooks; the
learners’ reaction to textbooks needs to be taken into
consideration as well. For the learners the textbook is
one of the most important sources of contact they have
with the language. It is a framework or guide that helps
them to organize their learning. It is helpful to involve
students in the process of adapting textbooks. Conse-
quently, they would feel that their needs are respected
and they would feel much more motivated to successfully
finish the course (Graves 2000: 176).
Advantages and disadvantages
of using textbooks
The use of textbooks in teaching has both advantages
and disadvantages, depending on how they are used and
what the contexts for their use are. What one teacher
considers an advantage in a textbook, another teacher
may consider a disadvantage (Graves 2000: 175).
The following list contains the most frequently stat-
ed advantages of using textbooks (Graves 2000: 175; Bas-
turkmen 2010: 149):
• It provides a syllabus for the course because the
authors of the syllabus have made decisions about
what will be learned and in what order.
• It provides security for the students because they
have a kind of a road map of the course: they know
what to expect and they know what is expected
from them.
• It provides a set of visuals, activities, readings,
etc., and so saves the teacher time in finding or
developing such materials.
• It provides teachers with a basis for assessing 79
students’ learning. Some textbooks include tests
or evaluation tools.
• It may include supporting materials (teacher’s
guide, cd, worksheets, and video.)
• It provides consistency within a program across a
given level, if all teachers use the same textbook.
If textbooks follow a sequence, as within a series,
it provides consistency between levels.
Textbooks also have limitations, which can lead to
teachers’ and learners’ dissatisfaction with the course.
The following list contains the most frequently stated dis-
НАСТАВА СТРАНИХ ЈЕЗИКА
advantages of using only ready-made textbooks (Graves:
175; Basturkmen 2010: 149):
• The content or examples may not be relevant or
appropriate to the group and they may not reflect
the students’ needs since textbooks are often written
for global markets and often do not reflect the
interests and needs of students.
• They may contain inauthentic language, since texts,
dialogs and other aspects of content tend to be
 specially written to incorporate teaching points and
are often not representative of real language use.
• The content may not be at the right level.
There may not be the right mix of activities (too
much of X, too little of Y), there may be too much focus
on one or more aspects of language and not enough focus
on others, or it may not include everything teachers want
to include.
• The sequence of units is not in accordance with
the real work-related needs.
• The activities, readings, visuals, etc., may be
boring.
• The timetable for completing the textbook or parts
of it may be unrealistic.
• The textbook doesn’t take the students’ background
knowledge into account.
Graves (2000: 176) suggests that, in order to min-
imize difficulties when selecting textbooks, teachers
should: use the textbook as a resource for students, but
not the only resource; use a textbook as a guide, be free
80 to modify, evaluate, develop, change, eliminate, or add
to the material in the textbook, supplement the textbook
with lots of outside readings.
Textbook Adaptation
During the second half of the 20th century, due to
great expansion in science, technology and economy,
English was accepted as the primary language for in-
ternational communication. As a result of this, English
for specific purposes (ESP) has become one of the most
important segments of English language teaching (ELT)
and, the need to design appropriate courses increased.
Additionally, a new generation of learners, who knew
exactly why they are learning the language, was creat-
ed. Therefore, the importance of the learners and their
attitude to learning became an integral part of a course
designing process. One way of incorporating learners’
needs into a course is adapting the existing textbook so
that it can be used as a useful and productive element in
the teaching process.
Graves (2000: 205) defines the textbook adaptation
cycle as a series of steps which includes: planning (in-
cluding needs analysis and textbook structure analysis),
teaching (implementing modifications), replanning (after
the completion of one course, plan again using all conclu-
sions made during the previous course) and reteaching
(the implementation of new conclusions and decisions
made on the basis of the previous course and replanning).
This is followed by continuous assessment.
Stage 1
Planning how to teach
with the text
Ongoing
Stage 2
Stage 4 assessment
Reteaching
Teaching
and decision
with the text
making
Stage 3
Replanning how
to teach
Fig. 1. The Cycle of Textbook Adaptation
The planning of textbook adapting provides a basis
for all necessary changes. It is a complex process and it
starts with a thorough needs analysis which gives teach-
ers insight into students’ wishes and objectives. This
is followed by looking into the textbook organization.
Teachers need to understand the textbook, its content
and structure in order to know what they are adapt-
ing or supplementing and to decide what kind of adding
and resequencing is possible and necessary. Frequently
the table of contents shows what is in the book, how the
units are sequenced, and the content and organization
of individual units.
Once the teacher is familiar with the overall content
and the organization of the book, it is helpful to become
familiar with one of the units – what the content of the
unit is, what the objectives are, and how the content helps
to achieve the objectives (Graves 2000: 186). There are
several ways to do this. One is to make a diagram of the
unit. Another is to make lists of content, objectives, and
the relationships between them. This is followed by con-
siderations on how the teacher wants to adapt the text-
book. There is a range of choices about how much the
textbook should be adapted. The teacher may adapt the
textbook at the activity level, at the unit level and at the
syllabus level. The adaptations are cumulative: adapting
at the unit level involves adaptation at the activity level,
adapting at the syllabus level involves adaptation at the
unit level. Such choices depend on teachers’ experience
with the textbook; it is easier to adapt a textbook the
teacher has already taught from.
In the interest to create the best possible course,
teachers may choose to ask the learners to express their
views of how effective the textbook and the adaptations.
This gives teachers valuable feedback and guidelines for
replanning and reteaching and creates a crucial connection
between the teacher and learners. Each time the teacher
goes through the cycle of planning, reaching, replanning
and reteaching he/she becomes more comfortable mak-
ing choices about what to emphasize, what to leave out,
and where to supplement and personalize the textbook.
Adapting at the activity level
Activities can be classified into four types (Graves
2000: 188):
• warm-up activities – usually based on previous
topics. It can be considered a review activity and
it is usually given at the beginning of a class as a
creative way to start a class or break the routine
of a class.
• presentation activities – introduce new topics.
practice activities – it is a meaningful opportunity for
the learners to practice the taught material.
• consolidation activity – it is developed after the
practice and these activities reinforce the topics
that had already been taught.
The majority of teachers adapt and add activities
which fit into the schedule to make students more inter-
ested and active in the learning process and provide their
students the opportunity to learn in a more pleasurable
way. These newly developed activities should focus on
learners’ needs, give more control to the students, and
allow for students’ creativity and innovation to enhance
the students’ sense of competence and self-worth.
Adapting at the unit level
The next level of adaptation is at the unit level. Each
textbook consists of a number of theme-based units and
each unit has its own structure. The teacher may add ex-
ercises to give extra practice to items that are frequently
used or which require extra time to learn. In addition,
the teacher may skip over confusing or not relevant
parts of a unit or resequence the parts of the unit to fit
the course.
Adapting at the syllabus level
Ur (1997: 176) defines the syllabus as a document
which specifies all the things that are to be taught in the
course for which the syllabus was designed. A textbook
can be adapted at the syllabus level by adding items or
even whole units that are important to students, such as
81
topics on cultural understanding which are crucial for
successful business or omitting components that may not
be of high priority for learners. Adapting the syllabus in-
volves the teacher and learners working together to make
decisions and it is a way of giving high priority to the rec-
ognition of learners’ needs within the course.
Additional Factors
There are additional factors that need to be taken
into consideration prior to textbook adaptation. In or-
der to make textbooks acceptable in many different con-
texts controversial topics are avoided and textbooks often
НАСТАВА СТРАНИХ ЈЕЗИКА
present an idealized view of the world. The teacher’s un-
derstandings about how people learn and what the stu-
dents’ prevailing attitudes towards sensitive issues are
play an important role in textbook interpretation and
adaptation (Graves 1996: 203). In order to make deci-
sions about how to adapt a textbook at the activity, unit
or syllabus level, it is important that teachers are aware
of their beliefs concerning what they know about stu-
dents and their needs.
 Also, the institutional context in which teachers
work can be crucial for decisions about adapting a text-
book. In some contexts teachers have a great deal of in-
dependence as far as what they do in the classroom. In
other contexts, teachers may need to be sensitive to insti-
tutional and cultural constrains with the respect to what,
how and how much they can adapt the textbook.

Conclusion
Textbooks give a great contribution in the teaching- Dragana M. Gak
learning process both to the teachers and to learners. They
offer a framework of guidance and orientation. Howev- UDŽBENIK – VAŽAN ELEMENT U NASTAVI
er, apart from numerous advantages a single textbook
frequently does not meet diverse needs of the learners.
This generates a need for textbook adaptation at the ac-
tivity, unit and syllabus levels. Adapting provides teach- Sažetak
ers with an opportunity to make a greater use of their Udžbenik ima posebnu ulogu u nastavi stranog jezika.
professional skills and for learners to be involved in the On je ne samo korisna osnova za držanje kursa već
learning process. je i orijentir kako za predavača tako i za studente.
Međutim, pored mnogobrojnih prednosti, korišće-
nje udžbenika kao jedinog nastavnog sredstva ima i
82 svoje ozbiljne nedostatke koji su predočeni u ovom
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